What is illegal grazing?

This is where a horse is left in any public place without the landowner’s authorisation. It can be land owned by a council or any other party.

What gives a council the power to seize illegally grazing or abandoned horses?

The Control of Horses Act 2015. It says that local authorities can “detain a horse which is in any public place in its area” as long as the local authority “has reasonable grounds for believing that the horse is there without lawful authority.”

What if someone lives on the land?

If someone lives on the land, they must consent to the detention or a council must have reasonable grounds for believing they would consent - although the council would not have to ask them first.

What happens once a horse is seized by a council?

A council can initially detain the horse for 24 hours. It can then detain it for up to 96 hours if gives notice to police or the person who owns it, if they are known.

Can the owner get the animal back?

The owner of the horse can reclaim the animal up until these 96 hours have elapsed, if they pay the council a fee. If they fail to do so ownership of the horse then passes to the council.

What happens to a horse once it is owned by a council?

A council can do with the horse as it likes. The law states: “The person detaining the horse may dispose of it by selling it, arranging for it to be destroyed or in any other way.” That means a council can arranged for it to be destroyed as soon as it becomes the legal owner.

Don’t the council try to rehome the horses?

In recent cases involving Northumberland County Council, the authority made efforts to rehome horses through the RSPCA, British Horse Society and other charitable organisations before they were destroyed. But it was not required to make such efforts by law.